150 years since the world’s first traffic light – BBC London News

Name: 150 years since the world’s first traffic light – BBC London News
Uploaded: 2018-01-04T18:10:00.000Z
Duration: 2 min 51 s
Description: Traffic lights - they bring us to a standstill in order to keep London moving. The world's first traffic light was installed outside Parliament in London 150 years ago. And of course they've changed a bit since then. BBC London’s Transport Correspondent Tom Edwards reports.

The History of Traffic Lights in London

This transcript discusses the history of traffic lights in London, starting with the world's first street semaphore or traffic light that was gas-powered and used signals to direct horse-drawn carriages outside Parliament. It then goes on to discuss the rise of electric traffic lights and how they quickly spread throughout London.

Gas-Powered Traffic Light

The world's first street semaphore or traffic light was gas-powered.

It was used to direct horse-drawn carriages outside Parliament.

Unfortunately, it exploded injuring a police officer and was scrapped.

Rise of Electric Traffic Lights

In 1925, the first electric traffic lights were installed at the same junction where the gas-powered one had been.

There are now 6,300 electric traffic lights in London.

Electric traffic lights quickly spread throughout London.

Controlling Traffic Flow

Not everyone is a fan of traffic lights as they can cause delays.

However, over half of the lights are now automatically controlled by a central computer which reduces congestion and smooths traffic flow.

Smart traffic lights use detectors in the road to take information back to a central computer which then channels out through an algorithm to decide how much green time different traffic signals get and linked signals together to ensure you get progression along the road.

Conclusion

Traffic lights are here to stay as a way of controlling roads.

They have come a long way since their inception in London with both gas-powered and electric versions being used.

Video description

Traffic lights - they bring us to a standstill in order to keep London moving. The world's first traffic light was installed outside Parliament in London 150 years ago. And of course they've changed a bit since then. BBC London’s Transport Correspondent Tom Edwards reports.